


The Secret Lives of Urban Legends

by LittleMissLiesmith



Category: Death Note
Genre: (not exactly the best at that tbh), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Urban Legend, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bloody Mary - Freeform, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other, Slight horror, Urban Legends, hide and seek by yourself, tomino's hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3401174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissLiesmith/pseuds/LittleMissLiesmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a pop star haunts the mirror, little boys live on playgrounds, you can play hide and seek with a bar of chocolate, a poem will make you disappear forever, a website can kill, and those set to find out what’s going on can see the truth, sense the paranormal, and read emotions.</p><p>Soichiro Yagami wants to find his son, Stephen Giavanni wants to save the legends, the man no one speaks of is always just out of reach, and Japan’s best and brightest has been missing for five years with everyone associated with him…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mirror Mirror 1.1--Summoning Games

**Author's Note:**

  * For [labasu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/labasu/gifts).



> All credit to dratsing/albasti for the concept of this AU

“Shiori, c’mon! It’s just a rumor, and you’re not _scared_ , are you?”

Shiori glanced nervously into the dark bathroom. “Guys—“

“Shiori’s too scared,” one of the other girls stage-whispered.

“I am not!”

“Shiori, you’re a scaredy-cat,” the youngest guest piped up.

“Am _not_!”

“Then you’ll do it?”

Shiori snatched the candleholder from the firsrt girl and slammed the door, facing the mirror in the flickering candlelight.

“ _Misa Amane._ ”

No going back.

“ _Misa Amane._ ”

Some dead girl, they said—but Shiori knew it was just your reflection, warped by your own mind and the dark room…

“ _Misa Amane, Misa Amane, Misa Amane._ ”

And because she knew that, she shouldn’t be scared, right?

“ _Misa Amane, Misa Amane, Misa Amane—_ ”

Right.

“ _Misa Amane_.”

Ten times. Shiori stared into the mirror and exhaled with relief—

Then she looked over her reflection’s shoulder.

 _Don’t blink and don’t scream_ \--the rules of the game. Scream and you were dead; blink and your parents were.

Shiori stared and shook as the girl in black lace crept closer until she was _right beside her_ \--

“Tell L I said hello,” came a breathily feminine whisper.

Shiori didn’t understand but nodded, terrified, all the same.

“Why did you call me?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“No one ever does.” The voice was disappointed, almost.

Shiori didn’t blink. “How did you die, Misa Amane?”

Cold ghostly fingers brushed over the gentle curve of her ear, but Shiori knew instinctively that there was nothing actually touching her. “I’m not dead yet, dear Shiori,” Misa Amane whispered to her. “Go ask L. He’ll know.”

“Who’s L?”

In the mirror, Misa Amane smiled dreamily. “The man you never noticed.” She grazed her fingers along Shiori’s arm as the girl stared into the mirror. “I know you can do it, because you didn’t scream, and you didn’t blink. Whether you know it or not you’ll be contacting him soon.”

“Thank you.” She couldn’t think of anything else.

“It’s a fact, dear Shiori.” She paused. “You may blink now.”

Hesitatnly, Shiori did.

If you blinked too soon, screamed too soon—her eyes would flash red and she would disappear as you watched.

When Shiori opened her eyes, she was gone already.

Someone rapped on the door. “Shiori? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she called hesitantly without unlocking it.

“Did you see anything?”

A girl in gothic Lolita, a request to see a man named Elle, fingers brushing cold chins—

“Nope.”

She took a deep breath.

“Not a thing.”


	2. Mirror Mirror 1.2--The L Files

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The owner of this AU had the idea that the Taskforce would be kind of like the X-Files (the SPK's role will be revealed later). Sadly, I've never watched the X-Files. I did research on it and drew on my knowledge of Supernatural and hope that I got something right.

Aizawa was not a superstitious man. Nor was his boss, Soichiro Yagami, or most of their department, which was slightly ironic considering their line of work.

That was fine, though, because Matsuda’s enthusiasm more than made up for their distinct lack of it.

It had been a mostly uneventful week. Mogi and Yagami had resolved two cases on their own (both mundane, although Matsuda told the second one that she should look out for poltergeists, Mogi backed it up because he always knew when Matsuda was right, and Yagami backed it up because hey, everyone else was doing it), Aizawa had floated between their taskforce and Ide’s department with the NPA, and Matsuda had worked out the beginnings for the next set of investigations. One of them was suspected to have at least a base in the paranormal (according to Matsuda) but it didn’t seem like anything would be terribly difficult.

And now it was Saturday afternoon, just before the time at which Aizawa and Yagami would return home (Mogi and Matsuda had no families and held down the fort every night). Aizawa and Matsuda were arguing over the truth of the paranormal case (Typical Argument version one million), Yagami was doing paperwork for the completed cases, and Mogi was writing up the report.

There were two phones in the Taskforce Headquarters. One had calls directed from the NPA, and the other was never used.

Wait—once. Aizawa could recall using it once. When the Taskforce was first formed and Yagami somehow got a decently-sized building for four people (five at the time). That phone, the black and gold phone, rang when they were first setting up. Yagami answered it, gave a few “mm”s and “yes sir”s and hung up, never telling them what, exactly, it was all about, except that they were never permitted to use that phone.

It was a fairly ordinary Saturday when the black and gold phone rang.

-O-

They were crowded into Yagami’s car—the chief driving, Mogi at shotgun, and Aizawa and Matsuda in the backseat—en route to some apartment complex in Aoyama on orders of an electronic voice from the black-and-gold telephone. Yagami hadn’t bothered explaining why, instead loading them up and announcing “field trip” in a bored voice.

“ _Ohhhh, we’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz~_ ”

“Chief,” Aizawa said pleasantly, resting his chin on the back of Yagami’s seat, “if Matsuda doesn’t stop it _now_ , I will not be responsible for what I do next.”

“Stop it, Matsuda,” Yagami said tightly, not taking his eyes off the road.

Matsuda shut up.

They parked outside the apartments above a club called the Note Blue. Matsuda was the first one out, pulling open a heavy metal gate to reveal concrete stairs.

“Nice place,” Aizawa commented dryly.

Up three flights of stairs and into the main hall of the building, which was rather more elegant than the service stairwell. Matsuda was pushed to the front of the group next to Yagami, with Mogi and Aizawa behind; it was their standard formation, a presentation of responsible Yagami and charismatic Matsuda. 

Yagami rang the bell.

A young girl—maybe fifteen or so—opened the door and eyed them suspiciously. “Who’re you?”

“Shiori Asoka?” Matsuda asked blithely, seemingly uncaring.

“That’s me.” She shut the door a hair. “Who are you?”

“Soichiro Yagami and associates. We’re with the NPA.”

She glanced at Mogi nervously; the large man had that effect on many. “Why are you here?”

“We’re a specific branch of the NPA,” Aizawa broke in. “Paranormal investigations.”

Shiori hesitated. “I—is this about my call? The one I made to that detective Deneuve? Because it might not have been anything—“

“The call was forwarded to us,” Yagami said. “That means it’s more likely than most to mean something.”

Shiori opened the door. “Come on in, then.”

-O-

“It was in here.” Shiori flicked on the bathroom light. “There were five—no, six others outside, but I was the only one doing the ritual.”

“Where’d you find the instructions?” Matsuda asked, flicking on an old-fashioned tape recorder. 

“Some website—one of those urban legends forums? I don’t remember exactly where. And then that night, we were having a sleepover, and Maki dared me to call _her_ , and I followed the instructions and…” She paused. “It worked.”

“Which one is this?” Aizawa asked.

“The goth girl in the mirror—Misa Amane,” Matsuda said quickly. “We dealt with one case that turned out to be a hoax, remember? You gloated for ages.”

“It’s not _fake_!” Shiori cried out. “I’m not lying, I swear!”

“Calm down,” Mogi said, stepping forward to place a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think you’re lying.”

“You don’t?” the others asked in unison.

The purpose of the Taskforce was simple; they searched out calls about the paranormal and debunked as many as possible—most were fakes. But the amount that weren’t was enough to keep Matsuda a daydreamer and the rest of them interested in the profession.

Yagami and Aizawa always denied what it was about them that made the four perfect for the job. But Matsuda made no real secret of his ability to sense the paranormal in his immediate vicinity, and while Mogi hardly advertised it, he always knew the truth whether the other person did or not.

“No.” Mogi turned to look at the mirror. “I don’t know if anything’s here now, but there was before.”

“Nothing now,” Matsuda said. “Just an ordinary bathroom.”

Yagami and Aizawa exchanged a glance. “You get a call from _him_ and it turns out to be a real case,” Aizawa said slowly. “Hardly a coincidence.”

“I didn’t say it was.”

“You think it means something?”

Yagami shook his head. “Just a case we didn’t learn about and he did.”

“Do we need to call the SPK?” Matsuda asked nervously. 

“I think we can handle it,” Yagami said firmly. “No need to get them involved.”

Shiori looked back and forth nervously. “So you’ll help?”

“Yes,” the Taskforce said in synchrony.


End file.
